Impact of economic downturn on HIV pandemic

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

The call for declaration of global economic downturn a health emergency

definitely needs to be effectively responded to and it is by no means an

exaggeration to perceive and state economic recession as a major threat to the

world’s health.

 

People's health and as a matter of fact their very survival, is at stake. There

is,obviously,a humongous vulnerability to HIV in these adverse situations.

Various organizations have collated the following facts which must be examined

very carefully:-

 

50 million workers may lose jobs if the economic crisis worsens, warns the

International Labour Organization.

The UN and all its agencies and funds spend about $20 billion each year or about

$3 for each person in the world. In contrast, Global military expenditure in

2007 was US $ 1339 billion or about US $202 for each person in the world.

Over 1 billion people across the globe go hungry every day. One in five people

in developing countries is chronically undernourished

Every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes - one child

every five seconds.

The crisis undermines human rights. UN Human Rights Council expressed “grave

concern†that the crises threatens to undermine the achievement of the

internationally agreed development goals including the Millennium Development

Goals.

 

Limited availability of welfare funding, loss of jobs in the prevalent

recession, retrenchments, closure of industrial units, reduction of job

opportunities and rising difficulties in earning a decent livelihood have

compelled massive migrations to earn a livelihood with huge increase in their

vulnerability to HIV which must be ascertained in the respective regions.

 

I would urge all development professional and professional

organizations/institutions to delineate the same in the respective areas of

their operations.

 

Best wishes,

 

Dr.Rajesh Gopal.

E-MAIL: dr_rajeshg@...